Still Fighting for the Bay

In his latest book, political scientist and Bay advocate Howard Ernst urges eco-warriors to take off their gloves

Six years ago, Howard Ernst’s Chesapeake Bay Blues exploded illusions surrounding that shop-worn phrase “restoring Chesapeake Bay.” Now Ernst is back with a new book, called Fight for the Bay, striking out in some new directions while sharpening important insights that have turned out to be true.

The Long Road of Brundibar and Ela Stein Weissberger

From Terezin Concentration Camp to Children’s Theater of Annapolis

Sixty-five years ago this month, an extraordinary event transpired at the Terezin Concentration Camp near Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was the 55th and final curtain for Brundibar, a popular children’s operetta by Hans Kraza, featuring 20 of his protégés and fellow prisoners. After the show, Kraza  like most of the cast before him  was sent to Auschwitz and executed.

Just a handful  blessed with beautiful voices, luck and pluck  beat the 99-to-one odds of extermination. One, Ela Stein Weissberger, acted in every production of the show’s 13-month run. Now she is coming to Annapolis.

The Children’s Theater of Annapolis is celebrating its first half-century with Brundibar and an appearance by Weissberger.

Our Old House

We’ve been getting ready for the holidays for 20 years now

It was dusk, and in the fading light, the old four-square with gingerbread and porches took my breath away.

I didn’t realize  and had I known, I would have run for the hills  I had been bitten by the old house restoration bug. I had also fallen in love with the man who was crazy enough to live in this project.

How to Tell  or Write  a Spooky Story

Nothing goes with Halloween like a spooky story. Spooky stories can be told any time of year, of course, but the early darkness of late October is particularly conducive to having your socks scared off.

But darkness alone won’t put the scare in a story. For that you need conviction and craft.

Succession in the Forest

Scrub pines prepare poor soil for what’s later to come

Pinus virginiana is a humble tree. The weak and brittle wood has no commercial value. Aesthetically, it lacks the grandeur of other coniferous cousins. It has a spindly trunk, and the needles are short and twisted. The poor scrub pine is as humble as its name implies.

It can be so dark inside a healthy stand of scrub pines that practically nothing can grow; the forbidding space is cramped with a tangle of dead limbs. On the other hand, when you step into a forest dominated by the tall and stately loblolly pine, it seems a cathedral. The filtered light is soft; the atmosphere is airy and welcoming.